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THE OFFICIAL ASK ALBERT THIEL THREAD


ZephNYC

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Thanks Albert,

Not only safe but cheap as well at just £1-80p about $2.5 for the reservoir.

 

Nice Les ... I like it a lot ... looks good and professional and I think using that food grade container for the top-off water was a good idea indeed. Inexpensive and safe.

 

Thanks for the posting and the pictures.

 

Albert

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Thanks Albert,

Not only safe but cheap as well at just £1-80p about $2.5 for the reservoir.

 

Another good buy for sure ... can't call that "expensive" or "splurging" :-)

 

Albert

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Thanks for your help. I have decided to definitely go with:

 

Pair of cardinals

citron goby or firefish goby - which one would be more likely to get along with the tailspot blenny?

tailspot blenny

pink-streaked wrasse

 

Is this a good stocking plan without overstocking and will either goby get along with the blenny?

 

Also in another newbie question I just installed an Innovative Marine midsize needle wheel skimmer on my aquarium. This is probably a silly question but how high does the collection cup need to be above the waterline? The only thing in the collection cup would be the skimmate correct? Other than that no water? I ask because when I installed it lower I had some overflow. I see some bubbles coming up in the column in my skimmate cup but not overflowing into the cup. Of course I probably do not have much in the aquarium to skim now. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Hopefully I described it clearly enough.

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Emerald Crab Eating Bubble Algae Video ...

 

This looks like a fairly large Crab as well and larger than what you often find offered for sale at LFS's

 

 

 

 

Albert

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Thanks for your help. I have decided to definitely go with:

 

Pair of cardinals

citron goby or firefish goby - which one would be more likely to get along with the tailspot blenny?

tailspot blenny

pink-streaked wrasse

 

Is this a good stocking plan without overstocking and will either goby get along with the blenny?

 

Also in another newbie question I just installed an Innovative Marine midsize needle wheel skimmer on my aquarium. This is probably a silly question but how high does the collection cup need to be above the waterline? The only thing in the collection cup would be the skimmate correct? Other than that no water? I ask because when I installed it lower I had some overflow. I see some bubbles coming up in the column in my skimmate cup but not overflowing into the cup. Of course I probably do not have much in the aquarium to skim now. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Hopefully I described it clearly enough.

 

Although both should be fine I would suggest the Citron Goby. The balance of the choice is I think just fine.

 

On the skimmer : if it is brand new then it is not yet running in the manner it will after a few days, so it is hard to get it right when you first start it up, and then comes the issue of "wet foam" versus "dry foam" and which one is better. The answer to that is fairly long and rather than covering it in this post I will cover it in a separate one. You will probably see it by the morning.

 

For now raise the cup in such a manner that some skimmate gets into the cup but that it is 'not' just plain water that fills the cup in a few minutes.

 

The foam does not have to be all dry and green or brown, it can be somewhat wet, as long as it is "bubbly" and not just plain water. So you should adjust the height to get that kind of foam coming out of it, and it should take a good amount of time for the cup to fill up.

 

More on skimming later.

 

Albert

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Great. Thank you. What order of addition do you suggest for the fish? Is it ok to add the blenny and goby at the same time and then wait 2 weeks to a month for the next fish, etc.?

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Great. Thank you. What order of addition do you suggest for the fish? Is it ok to add the blenny and goby at the same time and then wait 2 weeks to a month for the next fish, etc.?

 

If the tank is cycled which I have to assume it is, you could add all the fish at the same time or you could add the Blenny and the Goby and then wait a few days to a week and then add the others.

 

Just make sure you know what s.g. etc ... the LFS is running their tanks at and based on that decide on how long you need to acclimate the fish before adding them to the tank. I would suggest the drip method using airline tubing with a knot in it so you can regulate how fast the drops are added to the acclimating container.

 

Usually when I get a fish I will acclimate it for about 30 minutes or a little longer, as often LFS's keep their salinity low in their fish tanks as it reduces the incidence of parasitic diseases so it pays to know what their s.g. is.

 

My LFS keeps his fish at 1.016 and my tank runs at 1.025 so the fish need time to slowly get acclimated to the higher salinity.

 

Albert

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The tank is cycled but there is nothing in it except a clean up crew at the moment. I set it up about 6 weeks ago and according to my testing it is now cycled. I had always been told to add slowly or it would overwhelm the biofilter and cause a crash. That is why I asked about adding slowly.

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The tank is cycled but there is nothing in it except a clean up crew at the moment. I set it up about 6 weeks ago and according to my testing it is now cycled. I had always been told to add slowly or it would overwhelm the biofilter and cause a crash. That is why I asked about adding slowly.

 

Yes that is correct but if you add small fish you can add more at one time, but of course you can add 2 now and then the other ones in a week or so. It all depends on how large the fish are and of course the size of the tank and whether there is a sump or not.

 

I guess in your case then 2 and the other ones a week or so later should be just fine. Going slow is certainly not going to hurt.

 

Did you manage to get the skimmer adjusted so it make bubbly water rather than just water coming out at the top ... it does not need to be extra dry as that will more than likely plug up the narrower top where the skimmate has to exit and get into the cup and the more skimmate that gets stuck there the harder it is for more skimmate to get through as what it stuck the to cone at the top will make it more difficult for the skimmate underneath to get out and into the cup, so the consistency that is IMO best is semi-wet .

 

Remember to clean the top end when you see that it is coated with skimmate that makes it more difficult for more of it to get through and into the cup

 

Albert

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SKIMMING ......

 

The tank is cycled but there is nothing in it except a clean up crew at the moment. I set it up about 6 weeks ago and according to my testing it is now cycled. I had always been told to add slowly or it would overwhelm the biofilter and cause a crash. That is why I asked about adding slowly.

 

Links on Skimming:

 

Rather than writing a long discussion on skimming I thought ti would be easier and quicker to give you a few links to articles that deal with skimming and what it actually removes and what the difference is between wet and dry skimming. So here you go :

 

1. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/1/aafeature (Jan 2010)

 

2. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2 (Jan 2009)

 

3. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/2/aafeature (Feb 2010)

 

4. http://glassbox-design.com/2010/what-is-skimmate-protein-skimmer-waste/

 

5. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/saltwater/Kim_ProteinSkimming.html

 

And there are more but I think that reading these will give you a pretty good idea of what it is and what it removes from the water and the skimmate etc ...

 

Albert

 

 

It is bubbly water now so that is a good sign. It does not come all the way up into the collection cup at the moment though so maybe I need to adjust the height?

 

 

 

Yes just a bit I guess so it flows into the cup ...

 

Albert

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Ectoparasites are a Big Drag For Reef Fishes

 

© By Leonard Ho & advanced aquarist mag

 

 

 

Link : http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/ectop...g-for-reef-fish

ectoparasites fish external parasites

Albert

 

Hello all. I want to share video of tthe cirolanid isopods I found in some LR I recently purchased from my LFS. The details are on My Atlantis thread linked in my signature.

I think newbies and some experienced hobbyists tend to get a bit trusting with the "good" LFS's. But hee is proof that better safe than sorry proves true.

In this 30 second video I am poking an isopod (one of many) with a skewer and you can see it hop away.

 

th_2013-01-25_20-23-55_674_zps0b1eef12.j

 

 

Close ups:

 

2013-01-25_20-32-25_5_zpsd821cd21.jpg

 

2013-01-25_20-31-33_14_zps5aaf615e.jpg

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Great information! Thanks! Skimmers

 

Thanks ... and a lot of reading .. :-)

 

Albert

 

 

 

 

Hello all. I want to share video of tthe cirolanid isopods I found in some LR I recently purchased from my LFS. The details are on My Atlantis thread linked in my signature.

I think newbies and some experienced hobbyists tend to get a bit trusting with the "good" LFS's. But hee is proof that better safe than sorry proves true.

In this 30 second video I am poking an isopod (one of many) with a skewer and you can see it hop away.

 

 

 

Somehow the image does not link to the Video ... Can you post the direct link to it maybe,

 

Thanks

 

Albert

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And looking around I found a Video showing Young Tomato Clowns where you can see the 3 Stripes, Two of which they loose as they age

 

You can see the Young Tomato Clowns in this Video

 

 

 

 

Albert

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